Second Time Around
by Samantha Novak
Summary: After the painful and stressful birth of their first child (which Sam missed), Castiel does his research and opts for a water birth for baby number two. Sam gets to catch his second child while Dean offers Castiel support. Fill for an LJ SPN Kink comm prompt found inside. CONTAINS MPREG AND GRAPHIC BIRTH.


**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **_Fill for the following prompt from the LJ SPN Kink comm:_

_Pregnant with baby number two, Cas decides to switch thing ups and have a water birth this time. Dean holds Cas' hand during contractions and when he's pushing while Sam assists in helping to deliver this one (he still feels guilty for missing the birth of their first baby)._

_Meanwhile, Mary and Jack keep Sam and Cas' first child distracted until they can meet their new sibling._

* * *

"Hey, Cas!"

Castiel glanced up at the sound of Dean's voice, immediately glaring at the camera in the hunter's hands. "What is that?"

"It's a video camera, Cas," Dean said with a chuckle.

"I know what it is," Castiel growled, snapping out the t-shirt in his hands to rid it of wrinkles. "I suppose I should have asked _why _do you have it and why is it pointed at _me_?"

"'Cause today's your due date, right? Don't you wanna record the birth just in case?" the hunter asked, kneeling and zooming in on the angel's very pregnant belly.

Castiel glared at the hunter but made no move to push him away since he quickly trained the camera on Castiel's face instead. The angel went back to folding the laundry in the basket resting between his feet, legs spread to accommodate his belly.

The question wasn't as random as it seemed. This baby was his second with Sam, and the hunter had missed their first child's birth by a few hours, having been caught by the monster he and Dean had gone on a hunt almost a week before Castiel's due date which delayed the hunt longer than the brothers had anticipated. Sam, of course, felt terrible for missing it; Castiel, who had delivered the baby (a girl they named Clara) with no complications with Mary's help, assured him it was okay.

This time around, Sam and Dean refused to go on any hunts after Castiel hit his third trimester. Thankfully, none had come up that they were unable to pass off to other hunters. To make up for his absence in Clara's birth, Sam had asked the angel if he could catch their second baby. Castiel had no objections to the idea, so the plan was for Dean to take over as Castiel's coach when the angel got closer to pushing, being the one out of the water to pass Sam the necessary items so that Sam could deliver the baby. When Castiel decided it was no longer appropriate for Clara to be around, Mary and Jack would keep her occupied, the three-year old enamored with her big brother.

Castiel was saved from answering Dean's question when the bunker door creaked open then closed with a heavy slam shut.

"We're home!" Mary called at the same time Clara called out "Mama!"

Castiel grinned at the sound of his daughter's voice, heaving himself up to his feet and waddling out of the room they'd converted into a den, meeting his three-year old just as she jumped off the last step to the balcony and ran toward him, colliding with his legs. He smiled affectionately as he brushed her dark hair back away from her face where it had escaped the pigtails her grandmother had done for her that morning.

"Did you have fun with Grandma, Clara?" he asked.

Clara nodded vehemently, then tipped her head back to grin at him around his belly and shoved a hand up toward his face. "Mama, look!"

Castiel peered closely at his daughter's hand, smiling at the bright pink polish on her nails. "Very pretty," he complimented, returning to stroking her hair back with one hand while the other cradled his belly. He glanced toward Mary with a raised brow.

"It's Piggy Paint, Cas," she explained. "Nail polish made for kids. Non-toxic in case she sucks her fingers, and it'll wash off after a long soak in warm water."

The angel nodded his approval and smiled in thanks.

"Mama? When beebee come?" Clara asked, patting the side of his belly with a little hand and giggling when her sibling pushed out toward her hand.

"Soon, I hope," he answered truthfully, using the hand that had been cradling his belly to rub the slight ache where his unborn child had pushed out.

"What's soon?"

"Daddy!" Clara exclaimed as she released her hold on her mother's pants and ran toward Sam as he and Jack entered the room from the direction of the basement, having been in the shooting range so Jack could practice using a gun.

"Hey, peanut!" Sam said as he scooped his daughter up and swung her around before settling her on his hip.

"Daddy, look!" she said, pushing her hand into his face; he had to gently push it back enough to get a clear view.

"Wow, you got your nails painted?" he asked which made her nod happily in confirmation. "So grown up! You're all ready to be a big sister now, huh?"

The mention of being a big sister made Clara grin even wider and she nodded. "Be big like Jack?"

"Mm, not quite like Jack, peanut," Castiel said. "Jack's a little older than you. But you're still going to be a big sister."

They hadn't explained Jack's unique age situation to the three-year old, not sure she'd understand that he was technically only four years old but looked like a teenager. Someday, when she was old enough to understand how Jack's powers worked, they'd explain it to her. But for now, Jack was just "older" than she was.

"No big like Jack?" she asked, looking at her big brother with disappointment.

"Not big like me," the older nephilim confirmed sadly. "But someday. And then you can do lots of cool things like me!"

"Like pencil?" Clara asked.

"Yeah, like the pencil," Jack confirmed, grinning.

"The pencil" was the first lesson Clara had witnessed. It had just happened that Castiel was looking after her that day while Sam, Dean, and Mary were out, and he'd been training Jack to use his abilities. Castiel had sat her on his lap with a piece of paper and some crayons to occupy her while he talked Jack through using his powers to levitate an object – in this case, a plain, lightweight pencil. As soon as the boy had gotten it to rise, his little sister started watching curiously.

By now, Jack could easily move smaller objects like that with little effort. To help his parents, he would amuse his sister when she became cranky by making a pencil or paper or other lightweight objects nearby fly around the room and around her. Sometimes, she'd try to catch them. This little game usually made her forget what she was cranky about, avoiding a tantrum. Castiel had expressed to his son on more than one occasion how grateful he was that Jack was so helpful with his little sister.

Clara thought about their answers for a moment then nodded once. "Okay."

"So, what's with the camera, Dean?" Sam asked, noticing the device in his brother's hand.

"Oh, yeah," the elder Winchester said as if he'd forgotten it was there as he held it up and focused it on Castiel again. "Found it in a box of old junk in Dad's storage unit. Thought maybe Cas wanted to record the birth."

Castiel glared at the camera again. This time, he actually did reach out and push it down away from him. "No," he said firmly.

"Fine, fine," Dean conceded, turning it off.

"Okay, enough standing around!" Mary declared with a clap of her hands. "Anyone that is _not _an expecting parent is to follow me into the kitchen to help make lunch. _Especially _Dean," she added, pointing sternly at her eldest son.

"You know, it would be much easier if you just let _me_ cook," Dean grumbled as he followed his mother, Jack taking Clara from Sam and quickly following behind his uncle. "Because that's what ends up happening anyway."

Castiel smiled fondly as his children, and Dean followed Mary into the kitchen, the elder Winchesters bickering amicably until their voices disappeared. With a sigh, he leaned into Sam's side, slipping an arm around his partner's waist.

"So what's soon?" Sam asked again, wrapping an arm around the angel's shoulders and rubbing his bicep affectionately.

"Our baby's birth, I hope," Castiel replied. "I love our children, but I am tired of being pregnant. I don't think I would like to do this a third time."

Sam chuckled and kissed his angel's temple. "You think no more after baby two?"

Castiel hummed then nodded. "I think so. Two is a good number. And I feel too old for this."

Sam snorted. "I'd tell you that you're not old, but you _are_ several millennia older than I am, so..." he replied, trailing off with a chuckle which turned into a full cackle as his angel glared at him.

"Do not make me smite you," he growled then turned to return to the den to finish folding laundry.

"I'm sorry, Cas," Sam said through a few final chuckles as he followed. "I was only teasing. What can I do to avoid being smote?"

Castiel hummed in thought as he eyed his laundry piles. "Backrub while I finish folding laundry then carry the basket for me so I can put them away."

"Deal," Sam agreed, carefully stepping around Castiel's laundry piles to settle on the couch then helped his pregnant lover lower onto the couch with a little gap between them.

As Castiel continued plucking clothes from the basket and folding, Sam let his hands skim up and down the angel's back, paying close attention to any knots he found. They chatted about little things as Castiel worked, the angel relaxing more the longer Sam massaged. But just as he was leaning forward to reach the last article of clothing, he froze, sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth, and his hand flew to his belly.

"Cas?" Sam asked, concerned, his hands stopping at Castiel's hips. "You okay?"

"I… I think I'm having a contraction," the angel said, voice tight, before breathing deeply.

"They didn't start this strongly with Clara, right?" Sam pointed out, forming the thought as a question. He'd been told the story of his daughter's birth upon arriving home afterward. Having it told to him and actually being there were to very different things, and he sometimes found that he remembered details incorrectly when Castiel remembered them clear as day.

Castiel shook his head. "No, but it is possible I just didn't notice the earlier ones. Remember they felt so light last time that it took a while for Mary and I to realize I was in labor? And since this is my second, it might progress more quickly than with Clara."

With Clara, Castiel had complained of feeling uneasy early in the morning a few days before his due date. Something hadn't felt right, but he couldn't quite explain what. By mid-afternoon, the uneasiness had solidified into very definable cramps that got stronger and closer together as afternoon bled into the evening. By nightfall, the angel was firmly in the latter stages of labor and firmly denying it because they still hadn't managed to reach Sam or Dean. Clara had been born around one in the morning, fifteen hours after where they guessed labor to have started.

"Well, it can't be too bad if you're talking through it," Sam pointed out. "And it's only been, what, thirty seconds?"

Castiel nodded as he blew out a breath then leaned back against Sam's chest. "That wasn't exactly painful," he confirmed. "Just uncomfortable. I would liken it to the contractions I was having about a third of the way through my labor with Clara."

"Okay, why don't you go lie down for a little while, and I'll put the laundry away," Sam suggested. "It might be a while, but it might be quick, so you should rest while you can."

Castiel nodded and, with Sam's help, got to his feet. "Alright."

The pregnant angel made his way out of the den, and Sam quickly gathered their folded clothes and followed behind. He helped Castiel get comfortable in their bed, put away their clothes, and exited the bedroom, leaving the door cracked in case the angel called for him. He put away the rest of the clothes in the basket – a mix of Clara's, Dean's, and Mary's – then put the basket back in the laundry room and headed for the kitchen.

"Ah, just in time," Mary said with a grin as she slid something into the oven and pushed the door closed. "Lunch is ready, and I'm making pie. Where's Cas?"

"Uh, resting," Sam said with a sheepish smile. "We think he had a contraction while we were folding clothes, and he seems pretty sure he's in labor, so he's resting while he can."

"So, the baby is coming tonight?" Jack asked hopefully from his place at the table with Clara in her booster seat, feeding his sister grapes to snack on while they waited for lunch.

"Maybe," Sam confirmed. "Or early tomorrow morning. Just depends on how quickly labor goes."

"Beebee?" Clara asked, looking up at her father curiously.

"Yeah, peanut, baby," Sam confirmed, gently ruffling her hair.

"When should we set up the tub then?" Dean asked as he used two large wooden spoons to toss together a fruit salad and making a face at the healthy foods but biting his tongue at a stern look from his mother. A serving tray with sandwiches of varying meats was put together at the other end of the island.

"He's not supposed to get in water unless it's a shower until after his water breaks so we can check it properly," Sam explained. "So, once that happens, he can get in the tub."

After the stress and pain of Clara's birth, Castiel had researched and shared with Sam different pain relief methods for both labor and delivery. He'd decided he wanted a water birth because it was more gentle on the baby, and the water would help ease the pain for himself. But while the Men of Letters had luxurious taste in furniture and room size, the sizes of the bathtubs in the bunker were lacking. Probably because a group of straight men never thought anyone would ever need to bathe together. So, Castiel had purchased a birthing pool online that would be set up in the map room since it was a large room with open space – once the map table had been unbolted from the floor and pushed aside.

"Sounds good," Dean said, putting the fruit bowl in the center of the table. "Alright, Mom, grab the sandwiches, and let's eat!"

An hour later, the little family had eaten their fill and worked together to put away leftovers and clean up the dirty dishes. While Jack and Dean started doing the dishes, Mary excused herself, taking Clara for her afternoon nap. Sam excused himself to go check on his angel.

He found Castiel standing in front of the dresser with his arms folded over the top and his forehead resting against his arms, breathing deeply and swaying his hips back and forth.

"Cas?" he asked quietly, crossing the room to stand beside the laboring angel and rubbing a hand up and down his back.

Castiel only hummed in acknowledgment then moaned quietly on an exhale. He took a few more deep breaths before blowing out one long breath and straightening, one hand bracing his lower back while the other rubbed his belly.

"That one definitely looked worse than earlier," Sam noted.

"Yes, it was," the angel agreed. "I slept for about forty minutes then woke to one like that. I tried resting for the last twenty minutes, but couldn't get back to sleep, and on my way out to find you, that contraction occurred. Between them, I feel perfectly normal. My water hasn't broken either. I wish it would; I would like to get in the water now."

"I'm sorry, angel," Sam said sympathetically. "Mom and Dean made sandwiches and fruit salad if you want to try eating something."

Unless their grace was severely diminished or damaged, angels didn't require food; even if they did need the extra help, they still couldn't taste anything but molecules. However, soon after Castiel got pregnant with Clara, they discovered that expecting angels needed to eat to keep their grace from working overtime to support their vessels _and _their child – the same applied to sleep. Fortunately, whatever imbalances occurred in an angel's grace – similar to hormone changes in a pregnant human – allowed the expecting angel to actually taste the food needed to keep up their strength.

Castiel pressed his lips together in thought then nodded. "Fruit sounds manageable. Are there any strawberries?" The flavor had become one of the angel's longest and strongest cravings, whether it was fresh strawberries or something strawberry flavored.

"Yeah, there are strawberries," the hunter agreed with a grin, wrapping his arm around his lover's waist and leading him back toward the kitchen.

When they made it to the kitchen, Dean and Jack were just finishing with the last of the lunch dishes.

"Hey, Cas," Dean greeted, handing Jack a dripping plate to dry. "How're you feeling?"

Castiel took to pacing along one side of the island, feeling restless and unable to sit still. "Alright. I've had a couple more contractions, and they're getting stronger, but nothing I can't handle yet."

Sam found some extra strawberries in the fridge that hadn't made it into the fruit salad and set a bowl in front of his partner. Castiel paused in his pacing to take one and pop it into his mouth before continuing.

"Where's Clara?" he asked. Every few laps back and forth, he'd take another berry, free hand idly rubbing his belly.

"Mom's putting her down for her nap," Dean explained, handing Jack the last item to dry.

"Jack, you wanna help me blow up the tub?" Sam asked. The sooner it was ready, the better since Castiel's water could break at any moment, and Sam knew the angel would want the water as soon as he could. "We can fill it with water later so it doesn't get too cool before Cas can get in."

Jack nodded eagerly with a proud smile at being asked to help. "Of course. Though we can fill it now, too. I can use my powers to warm the water periodically so it's ready exactly when Castiel needs it," the nephilim explained as he followed his second surrogate father from the room.

"You sure you don't want me to get the camera, Cas?" Dean asked with a grin once they were alone, drying his hands on a dish towel then tossing it over his shoulder and leaning against the opposite side of the island.

The angel gave him a withering stare as he plucked another strawberry from the bowl and continued pacing. "I am sure. Sam will be busy delivering our baby, which means you would have to record, and I doubt you want to see certain parts of my body any more than I want you to see them."

Dean made a face and shook his head. "Yeah, you're probably right."

"Although," the angel said with a sigh, staring forlornly at the next strawberry he chose. "I wish I had thought of that for Clara's birth when no one could reach you both. I feel guilty that Sam missed our first child's birth."

"Hey," Dean called gently, rounding the island to clasp his friend's shoulders, forcing him to meet the hunter's gaze. "Don't beat yourself up over that, Cas. None of us knew Sammy and I wouldn't make it; we thought it would be an in and out hunt, and you still had a week before your due date, right? And I'm sure you weren't really able to think very clearly after a while. Don't sweat it."

"I suppose you're right," the angel agreed reluctantly, popping the strawberry into his mouth and resuming his pacing. "Clara came early, and now her sibling is taking their time," he said, a note of amusement tinging his voice.

After a few more laps and a couple more strawberries, Castiel slumped forward against the island with a whimper, bracing himself on his palms. He bowed his head and gently swayed his hips from side to side as he breathed in deeply through his nose, exhaling through his mouth. Every few exhales, the breath came out on a prolonged moan.

Dean, knowing it was only a contraction and would pass but at a loss as to what to do to help ease his friend's pain, did the only thing he could think to do; he offered the laboring angel his hand. Castiel glanced at it then removed one hand from the island to clasp the hunter's, squeezing as hard as he dared but being careful not to break bones.

"That's it, I gotcha, Cas," Dean murmured. "You're doing so good."

Castiel didn't acknowledge that he'd heard, too focused on keeping his breathing steady and staying on top of the pain. As it tapered off, he took several deep breaths and slowly released Dean's hand to brace his on the island again until he felt steady enough to straighten.

"Thank you," he murmured.

"Anytime," Dean replied then cautiously moved away. "You want anything else?" he asked, gesturing to the mostly empty bowl.

Castiel shook his head. "No, thank you."

The pair wandered into the map room to see how Sam and Jack were doing, finding that Mary had returned from putting Clara down for her nap, the baby monitor they used to hear her from so far away on the table. They'd managed to unbolt the table from the floor and had it pushed to one side. The open box for the pool sat on the table, and Sam was holding a blob of light blue material the color of the pool on the box, trying to find the place for the air pump to connect. Jack was having similar trouble unfolding the blue tarp that would go under the pool to catch any spilled water; it was a large piece of material to maneuver. The sight made Castiel chuckle.

"Here, Jack," Dean said as he crossed the room and helped the nephilim spread out the tarp while Mary did the same with Sam, spreading the deflated pool over the tarp once Jack and Dean got it laid down.

Sam let them take over inflating the pool and moved to stand beside his angel. They had only been watching a few minutes when another contraction began building, and Castiel leaned into Sam with a whine. The hunter wrapped his arms around his angel as Castiel buried his face in Sam's shoulder and whimpered. With a little guidance from the laboring angel, the pair started to sway from side to side while Castiel found his rhythm for breathing again.

"So proud of you, angel," Sam murmured into his ear, knowing his celestial senses meant Castiel could hear him despite the noise of the air pump inflating the pool. "You're so strong; I couldn't handle this nearly as well as you."

Castiel gripped Sam's biceps tightly but carefully, repeatedly whining into Sam's shoulder as the contraction peaked. Sam continued to murmur praise until the whining faded back into deep breaths as the contraction tapered off. When it was over, Castiel pulled away with an expression of displeasure and disgust as he looked downward. Someone shut off the pump, plunging the room into a deafening silence.

"I'm wet," Castiel stated in a tone that made it clear he didn't like the feeling at all.

"Yeah, think your water broke," Sam said with a chuckle of amusement at his partner's obvious displeasure, knowing the angel knew that was what had happened.

"Finally," Castiel muttered. "I know that means the pain will be worse, but I can finally get in the water."

"We'll get it filled up, Cas," Mary promised with a smile. "And the little puddle you're leaving there."

"Do we even have a hose long enough to reach the pool from the kitchen?" Dean asked, eyeing the pool.

Fully inflated, it was an egg shape, roughly fifty-seven inches by forty-six inches wide and just over two feet tall though some of the width was the rim and the depth was padding at the bottom, so the actual space that needed to be filled was slightly less. The box said it could hold just over one-hundred and seventy gallons of water. That would be a lot of work if they couldn't connect a hose somewhere and resorted to carrying buckets.

"We'll manage," Mary said. "Sam, you take Cas to go get cleaned up and changed. Dean, you come help me find a hose or two we can use. Jack, would you mind cleaning up the floor?"

Twenty minutes (and another contraction that was, as Castiel had predicted, much more painful without the amniotic sac acting as a barrier, leaving him whining and whimpering in Sam's arms once more), the couple rejoined their family. Mary and Dean had indeed found two hoses and a part to connect them so they could run water from the kitchen to the pool. The distance meant slow filling despite the excellent water pressure the bunker had.

"Here, Cas, I brought this," Mary said, rolling her exercise ball over to the angel. When Castiel had expressed interest in pain relief methods, Mary had offered use of the ball. "I even brought a pillow out in case you wanted to kneel to lean on the ball."

"Thank you," the angel said, accepting the pillow and dropping it in front of the ball. "Sam, help?"

"Of course," Sam said with a gentle smile as he helped Castiel down onto his knees on the pillow.

The angel hummed with relief as he rested his head on his folded arms atop the ball, gently rocking back and forth. "This feels wonderful. Thank you, Mary."

"You're welcome, sweetie," Mary replied with a fond smile for her third son.

While they waited for the tub to fill, Mary, knowing they wouldn't be present to assist in the birth, took Jack with her to gather the necessary tools and other items for the delivery, spreading them out across the table. The boys chatted quietly while Castiel seemed to doze lightly while resting against the ball. His light napping didn't last long before another contraction roused him, sending him into his breathing and rocking again, exhales punctuated with long moans.

"Sam," he moaned, reaching a hand for his partner where the hunter sat at his side, rubbing his back.

"I'm here, angel," Sam murmured. "You're doing so well. I'm so proud of you."

"Nng… I want… I want the water," the angel whined, giving up on his patterned breathing to pant harshly.

"Only half full, Cas," Dean said from his place beside the tub.

The angel gave a prolonged whine of pain and frustration, shaking his head against his arms. "Never… doing this… again," he growled between pants.

"Okay, angel," Sam agreed, squeezing his hand affectionately. "Okay, no more kids."

Castiel gave a final groan before he relaxed, taking deep breaths and releasing Sam's hand to rub an ache out a spot on his belly. He rested against the ball, seeming more worn out after that last contraction. After a few deep breaths, he seemed a bit better and carefully pushed himself up to sit atop the ball, rolling his hips in small figure eights.

"Feeling okay?" Dean asked.

"Yes. I still feel mostly alright between," the angel explained, using both hands to slowly rub up and down his belly as he circled his hips. "Just a little more tired than before. Sam, can I have some water?"

"Yeah, of course," Sam said before exiting the room. He returned a moment later with one of the bottles he used for water when he went jogging, but he'd left the cap off and had put in a straw.

"Why the straw?" Dean asked as Castiel took it gratefully and sipped.

"Because some positions make tipping your head back to drink uncomfortable or impossible. This way, he can drink no matter what position he needs," Sam explained.

"Oh."

"Thank you, Sam," Castiel said with a small smile. "I appreciate the thought."

To distract Castiel between contractions, the boys started telling more amusing stories about their childhood, other hunts they'd been on, or just their lives in general before meeting the angel. Like the time Dean entered a pie eating contest to win money. In the end, he came in third behind two guys that probably weighed almost three-hundred pounds, walking away with twenty-five bucks, a severely aching stomach, and declaring he was never eating pie again.

"That last for maybe a day," Sam added through a laugh. "He spent the rest of the day curled up in bed in our motel room, complaining about how badly his stomach hurt and refusing to put even water in it; by the next morning, he was feeling totally normal and ordered pie for lunch."

"Last time I ever entered a contest for money," Dean grumbled. "I can make more money with less trouble hustling pool!"

Castiel chuckled from his place on the ball, shaking his head in amusement. "What did you spend your twenty-five dollars on?"

"The lunch we had the next day," Dean replied with a grin.

Before either brother could think of another story, Clara's sleepy voice came through the baby monitor, quietly calling "Mama. Daddy." She knew she wasn't supposed to go wandering through the bunker and knew that when she woke in the morning or from her nap, she was supposed to call for her parents.

"I've got her," Sam said, dropping a kiss to the top of Castiel's head as he stood then hurried from the room.

He hadn't been gone long when Castiel moaned and braced his hands on his knees, stopping the motion of his hips. Dean immediately crossed to kneel in front of him, gently gripping his elbows to keep him steady. In return, Castiel placed his hands on the hunter's shoulders for added support and balance.

"I gotcha," Dean soothed. "Breathe, Cas," he instructed when he noticed the angel holding his breath.

Castiel groaned and panted through the pain, feeling every muscle in his abdomen tighten and push downward. He could feel the baby lower in his pelvis than before and gently circled his hips through the contraction to ease the discomfort. The pain had increased enough that he could no longer concentrate enough to speak through this contraction, but he wanted into the water _now_.

That was when Sam returned with Clara on his hip. As soon as she saw her mother panting and whimpering in her uncle's arms, her face crumpled with worry.

"Mama?" she whimpered.

"Shh, peanut," Sam soothed, rubbing her back. "Remember we said when your new sibling wanted to come, Mama was gonna have tummy aches? Mama's okay."

Clara stuck out her lower lip as she watched her mother blow out a long breath then let go of her Uncle Dee. When he smiled over at her, she squirmed in her father's arms, so Sam quickly hurried to Castiel to pass their daughter to him.

"Mama's okay," the angel soothed, tucking his daughter to his chest and letting her press her face into his neck. He could feel her grace reaching out for his and let it meet hers, calm and soothing. This had the desired effect, and she relaxed in his arms but didn't let go which Castiel was fine with. This was the last chance he'd get to cuddle her as an only child, and though having a second baby didn't mean he would never get to cuddle his firstborn again, there would likely be times when it was interrupted because her sibling needed him. This time felt special.

Then Clara noticed the pool.

"Swim?" she asked, lifting her head from her mother's shoulder to peer at the tub.

"No swimming, Clara," Sam said. "Mama's going to have your baby brother or sister in the pool."

Clara furrowed her brow in confusion and looked down at Castiel's belly then back at the water. "Beebee in water?"

"Yes, baby in water," Castiel agreed, trying in vain to comb his fingers through his daughter's sleep-ruffled hair, but it refused to cooperate. She kept leaning away, too.

Before she could ask any more questions, Mary and Jack returned with the last few items needed, and when she saw her brother, Clara wiggled to get down. As soon as Castiel set her on the floor, she ran toward the older nephilim.

"Jack!" she squealed.

"Clara!" Jack said dramatically as he scooped her up which made her giggle.

"The tub is close to where it needs to be," Mary observed. "Dean, go into the kitchen and get ready to shut it off; I'll holler when it's full."

"Got it," Dean confirmed with a mock salute before heading for the kitchen.

"Okay, now!" Mary hollered. After a few seconds, the water slowed to a trickle then stopped. She pulled the hose from the water and let it rest on the tarp. She used a thermometer she'd found and cleaned to make sure the water was the appropriate temperature. "Alright," she declared just as Dean returned. "Cas, you're all set."

"When do you want Mary and I to take Clara?" Jack asked as he used his powers to make the instruction sheet for the pool float from the table to amuse his sister.

Castiel frowned sadly at his baby girl as she grinned and watched the paper with bright, curious eyes. If the tub was ready, he wanted to get in the water. Which meant stripping, and that's not something he felt comfortable letting his three-year old see, so now was when she needed to go with her brother and grandmother. But she had just woken up from her nap, and when he saw her again, she wouldn't be his baby anymore.

"In a moment," he decided, holding his arms out to his son. "Give her to me?"

Jack nodded and passed his sister back to his father.

Castiel hugged his daughter tightly and pressed a kiss to her temple. "Are you ready to be a big sister, Clara?"

She nodded eagerly, attention entirely on her mother now.

"You're going to go with Jack and Grandma for a while, okay?" She frowned at being told she was leaving her mother. "When you come back, you'll get to see your new brother or sister."

"Beebee!" she cheered with a grin.

"Yes, baby," Castiel agreed then hugged her once more. "I love you, Clara. Be good for Jack and Grandma."

"Be good," Clara repeated as her way of promising she would, allowing Jack to take her again before the three left the room.

"Want me to help you undress and get in, or should I go get my swim trunks since I'm getting in with you?" Sam asked.

Castiel stared longingly at the water, both hands rubbing his belly. "Water first before another contraction comes."

Sam chuckled and helped his angel stand, rolling his eyes as Dean turned around while they undressed Castiel. "You know," he called as he helped Castiel step into the water, "you're going to see him naked anyway."

"Yeah, but the water will kinda make it hazy, and I won't be looking down there anyway," Dean countered. "And that doesn't mean I want to watch you undress him either."

As Sam helped him settle into the water, Castiel moaned with relief at the warm water as his belly was slowly submerged. He reclined back against the side, draping his arms over the rim and grasping the handles attached to the outside edge.

"Alright, you can look," Sam announced to his brother who turned back and knelt at Castiel's side.

"Okay, I've got him," he declared, waving his hand at his brother in a shooing gesture. "Go get changed so you can get in."

"Right," Sam agreed before hurrying from the room.

Castiel reclined that way in the water for a few minutes, watching with amusement as Dean puttered around the room, knowing the hunter couldn't sit still when a family member was suffering in any way. When Sam returned, he climbed into the other end of the tub, and Castiel shifted so he was kneeling in front of his partner, leaning forward to rest against his hunter's chest with his belly under water.

The couple sat quietly that way for a while, Castiel breathing and moaning through several more contractions that seemed to grow longer and closer together. Sam gently rocked him as he clung to the hunter through the pain. Eventually, Dean ran out of things to tidy up and knelt beside the tub, watching his friend whimper and moan and whine with pain, green eyes filled with worry.

Eventually, the position became too uncomfortable on Castiel's knees, so the angel turned to rest with his back against Sam's chest, letting his head rest on the hunter's shoulder. The new position allowed Sam to lightly trail his fingertips over his belly, letting water trickle across the swell which helped ease the pain. It seemed to help ease the pain a little better, and he even managed to doze a little bit, not noticing when Dean trailed a hand through the water near his arm.

"Still warm enough?" the elder Winchester whispered to his brother.

Sam nodded, replying in a whisper, "Yeah, think so; don't think he should use his grace to heat it up if it's not, and I don't want to pull Jack away from Clara."

Dean nodded. "Yeah. She got kinda worried for Cas when you brought her out from her nap, but Jack kept her occupied."

Sam nodded, but his attention snapped back to his laboring partner when Castiel pushed himself up and curled over his belly with a breathy moan, hands grasping the handles on the inside of the tub tightly. The angel tipped his head to one side and back along his shoulders, face scrunched in pain. But he was panting through his moaning, so Sam wasn't too worried that he was pushing yet.

"Cas?" he asked gently, rubbing the angel's back.

Castiel's response was another breathy moan. "I feel like I have to push," he said then whimpered as he did just that, knuckles going white as he gripped the handles. The push didn't last long before he gave up with a groan then panted to catch his breath.

"Need me to switch places to get ready?" Sam asked gently, continuing to rub Castiel's back.

The angel shook his head but started shifting position anyway to lean against the side of the tub closest to Dean. "Baby's not low enough for pushing to be very effective," he said as he laid against the side with his arms draped over the tub. "Can you rub my back though? Feels nice..."

"Yeah, of course," Sam agreed, resuming the light massage he'd been doing.

Castiel buried his face in the rim, seeming to get lost in one contraction after another. At one point, he'd tried gripping the edge of the tub, but he'd draped himself over a space without the handles, so Dean had slipped his hands into the angel's, letting him squeeze as hard as he wanted. He noticed the angel's knuckles going white as he tensed, but the grip didn't break the hunter's hands, so Dean didn't say anything. His friend was in the process of expelling a tiny human from his body; he could squeeze Dean's hands all he wanted.

"I gotcha, Cas," he promised as Castiel moaned against the material of the tub.

At one point, Mary sneaked through to the kitchen to fetch Clara some dinner (which Sam told her could be eaten in the toddler's bedroom since they didn't want her seeing her mother at this point), Castiel too lost in never-ending contractions to notice. He kept a firm grip on Dean's hands, keeping his face buried in the edge of the tub as his moans increased in frequency and volume.

His moans turned into deep groans and his grip seemed to tighten further. Dean truly feared the angel would break his hands at this point. Castiel tipped his head back and groaned deeply, and Dean could see the way he grit his teeth and the flush in his face.

"Cas, are you pushing?" he asked, casting a worried glance to his brother.

"Yes," the angel growled before relaxing and blowing out a breath, panting for a moment before going right back into a push.

"You gotta wait, turn over so Sam can catch, and I kinda need a hand to get him stuff," Dean said worriedly.

"I can't," Castiel snapped. "Need… to push!"

"It's okay," Sam assured, rubbing circles into Castiel's lower back. "You can push like this. If you want to switch before the baby starts crowning, you can. If you want to deliver this way, we'll make it work."

Castiel groaned deeply as the contraction faded and he stopped pushing. He dropped his head onto the rim of the tub and breathed deeply, releasing Dean's hands. "Gather what you need. In case I don't want to let go of you during delivery."

Dean nodded and quickly gathered the supplies from the table then spread them on the tarp beside his knees as he knelt in front of Castiel again. He offered his hands to the angel once more, Castiel taking them gratefully and gripping tightly as another contraction took hold and the urge to push overwhelmed him. He pushed that way for a while, but, like before, his knees became sore, so he carefully turned over and bent his knees, letting them fall open so Sam could get between them, and reaching his hands up on either side of his head for Dean to grasp onto.

When Dean slipped his hands into Castiel's, the angel gripped them tightly as he pushed again. This time, he could feel the baby breaching his opening and pushed harder, curling over his belly the best he could. He tried not to squeeze Dean's hands too tightly.

Castiel had read that after the first baby, labor and delivery wouldn't take as long. But as he felt the baby stretching him as the head slowly emerged, he almost couldn't believe _how _quickly pushing was going. It hadn't taken long to start crowning, and he could already feel the telltale burn as the widest part of the head slowly pushed forward.

"Easy, Cas," Sam coached as he cradled the head in his hands. "Baby's coming nice and smooth, but I don't want it to come too fast and risk tearing you."

Castiel tipped his head back and panted as he let the baby ease out, whimpering with the need to keep pushing.

"You got this, Cas," Dean murmured into his ear. "Just breathe for a bit."

Castiel whined and shook his head. "Need to push," he groaned.

"Small pushes," Sam relented. "Easy..."

Castiel did as he was told, giving little pushes accompanied by short, involuntary grunting noises. He remembered this part from Clara's birth. As she crowned, he'd wanted to push as hard as he could to get her out quickly to get past the burning sensation of being stretched, and had torn in the process. Thankfully, it hadn't been bad enough to cause severe bleeding, and Mary stitched it together until he could heal again after recovering from delivery.

Suddenly, there was a relief of pressure, and Castiel tipped his head back, mouth dropped open in an O of surprise and relief before his face contorted in a grimace. The baby turning didn't feel any less uncomfortable than it had with Clara.

"Just a few more little pushes, Cas. Wait, wait..." Sam coached as he let the baby turn. "Okay, little pushes."

The angel did as instructed, and all in a rush, several things happened at once. The baby slipped free and into Sam's hands. Castiel immediately released Dean's hands and plunged his underwater to get them onto his child. And both parents pulled the baby from the water and onto Castiel's chest where Dean hastily draped a towel over the clean, wet baby beginning to give little wet cries.

"What is it, Cas?" Sam asked through the happy tears filling his eyes and the grin so wide his dimples showed. He scooted closer to Castiel's upper half to sit beside his partner and child. "Do we have a Rose or a Daniel?"

Castiel lifted the towel the baby was covered in enough to peer between the baby's legs. "Daniel," he announced as he tucked the towel around their new son to keep him warm. "We have a son," he said, leaning in to kiss his partner.

Sam kissed back eagerly, carefully draping an arm around Daniel's back. When the couple parted, he smiled down at his son and brushed his wet, dark hair back. "Daniel," he breathed in awe.

After a few minutes for the little family to calm and the cord to stop pulsing, Sam moved back between his partner's legs and, with Dean passing the clamps and scissors, did the honor of cutting his son's cord. Once he was no longer connected to his mother, Daniel was given to his uncle to be properly dried and diapered and swaddled while Sam assisted in the afterbirth.

An hour later, when parents and baby were clean, dry, and dressed and Castiel and Daniel were tucked in bed, Dean sent Sam off to fetch his daughter while the elder Winchester cleaned up the birth mess. Sam cautiously peered into his daughter's room, smiling when he found her asleep in her brother's arms, Jack gently rocking her in the rocker in the corner. Mary sat on the edge of Clara's bed as the two talked though both went quiet as soon as they saw Sam.

"Hey," Sam called quietly as he stepped into the room.

Jack smiled at him. "She tried waiting for you so she could see our new sibling, but she fell asleep."

"So?" Mary asked eagerly. "If you're here looking like you freshly showered, it must be over. So what is it? Another granddaughter? Another grandson?"

Sam chuckled at his mother's eagerness (and he didn't miss the way Jack smiled with pride at the implication that he was Mary's grandson). "Yeah, it's over. It's a boy; his name's Daniel."

"Can we go see?" Jack asked eagerly though he made no move to get up, afraid of waking his sister.

"Yeah, you can go see," Sam replied, gently taking his daughter and chuckling as the two hurried from the room. "Peanut," he called as he tucked her against his chest and rubbed her back. "Clara… Wake up, Sleeping Beauty." When she stirred and her eyes fluttered, he pressed a kiss to her temple. "Hey, peanut. Wanna go see your new baby brother?"

Clara's sleepy eyes widened and she pulled away from Sam's shoulder to stare at him in surprise. "Beebee here?" she asked excitedly.

"Yeah, baby's here," Sam replied with a chuckle. "His name is Daniel. But remember what Mama and Daddy explained to you? Daniel is really small, and Mama's not gonna be feeling well, so you gotta be careful."

Clara nodded, expression determined. "Caweful," she promised.

"Good girl," Sam praised as he carried her back to their room.

When they arrived, Jack and Mary were sitting on one side of Castiel, Mary holding Daniel while Jack peered at him over her shoulder. As soon as Clara saw her mother, she wiggled until Sam set her on the bed where she promptly cuddled up into Castiel's side.

"Hello, Clara," Castiel greeted with a fond smile as he put an arm around his daughter.

"Beebee?" Clara asked.

"Here, Cas," Mary said as she passed Daniel back to him. "Come on, Jack, let them have their moment. We can see the baby later, but let's go help Dean clean up for now."

"Alright," Jack agreed, taking a moment to hug his father before following Mary from the room.

As Castiel accepted the baby from Mary, Clara leaned away enough to let him then scooted closer to him to peer at the little wrinkly face bundled in a blanket. She blinked up at her mother for permission then leaned forward and carefully touched the tiny hand that poked out of the blanket. Daniel's fingers instinctively clasped around her finger which made her gasp and grin up at Castiel.

"He likes you, peanut," Sam said from his place on Castiel's other side. "What do you think? You like your little brother?"

Clara nodded, still smiling at her brother. "Hi, Dan-ull," she whispered, not quite getting it, but the attempt made her parents smile.

"What do you think, Cas?" Sam murmured while their daughter was distracted by the new baby. "One of each a good place to stop?" Of course, they considered Jack their own, but biologically, they had a boy _and_ a girl.

Castiel nodded, watching his children. "Yes. I believe our family is complete now."


End file.
